And they call it puppy love (2)

"Chinese parents often get headaches when they find their children have fallen in love. Such a situation has evolved over the years with changes in the social environment," said Zeng Yanbo, a researcher at the Shanghai Juvenile Research Institute under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

"Also, parents often have a better education background compared with 10 years ago. They often seek more peaceful ways to guide their children rather than endless preaching," she said.

When asked how they fell in love, 58 percent of the students said they let it develop naturally. And 42 percent said they would try their best to work it out if their parents were opposed.

"That reflected their desire for love in adolescence, during which students often like imagination and lack rational thinking," Xu said.

About 90 percent of students believe there is nothing special about students being in love.

"That reflects that being in love is quite natural in students' eyes, and they take a peaceful attitude toward it," Xu said.

Students in vocational schools were more likely to experience puppy love than those in key high schools, although the research found that puppy love was not correlated to students' academic performance.

"It's easy to see more students falling in love in vocational schools where there is less pressure and more leisure time, while in high schools, especially those key schools, students need a shoulder to cry on due to the intensive academic pressure," Xu explained.